Ron Wyden's Medicare Overhaul

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We haven’t seen too many bipartisan efforts in the last few months in the rancorous world of national politics — especially for an issue as polarizing as healthcare. But then, on Wednesday, here come Oregon senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat, and Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan, a Republican, with a plan to overhaul Medicare.

The proposal is based on an idea called “premium support,” which basically means that Medicare money would subsidize premiums being paid to private insurers. (Seniors would also be able to stick with the traditional fee-for-service model.) The other big part of the plan: the growth of Medicare would be capped, and would have to grow at about the same rate as the economy.